Seeds is a comprehensive project providing emerging and seasoned dancemakers with tools, means and support to create, develop and premiere a new, finished work.

Seeds Concert

April 12 & 13, 2024

📍Arts Mission Oak Cliff

tickets

Meet the Dancemakers

Carrie Ruth Trumbo is a native Floridian and received her formal training at the Orlando Ballet School. She was a trainee with Charlotte Ballet for one season, Tulsa Ballet’s second company for two seasons, and in the main company of American Contemporary Ballet, Ballet Des Moines, Tulsa Ballet and Oklahoma City Ballet (OKCB). She discovered her interest in choreography through OKCB’s Future Voices production, for which she was selected to create two original works, You See What You Look For and Whistling in The Dark.
She played an integral role in developing Pegasus Contemporary Ballet, a new company in Dallas, Texas where she was Resident Choreographer from 2021 to 2023. She has created six new works for the company, including collaborations with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra and Verdigris Ensemble, and her work Cutting Room Floor was awarded a TACA pop up grant in 2022. According toThe Dallas Morning News her “...choreography leaves an immediate impression, that of an original voice. The Florida native doesn’t rely on a set movement vocabulary or ideas borrowed from others to derive steps…”

Jennifer Mabus, MFA, has rich performance background with choreographers and companies such as Robert Battle (founding dancer of Battleworks), Amy Marshall Dance Co, Heidi Latsky, Takehiro Ueyama, Bruce Wood, NobleMotion, Dark Circles Contemporary Dance, and Agora Artists, among others. She has served on the dance faculties of TCU, Booker T Washington HSPVA, Interlochen Arts Academy, Houston’s HSPVA, and Sam Houston State University, and the University of St. Thomas, Houston (founding chair). Mabus has presented at National festivals and has been a resident artist with Rice University, Noble Motion Dance, Dance Source Houston, UT Dallas and Arts Mission oak Cliff and has set work on companies, such as Avant Chamber Ballet, Houston Contemporary Dance, METdance, Contemporary Ballet Dallas, Muscle Memory Dance Theater, Elle Danceworks, and Pilot Dance Project. She has collaborated in multi-media evenings in venues such as the Rothko Chapel, CAMH, and the Blanton Museum.

Deepta Seshadri is an Indian classical practitioner, performing artiste, and dance educator. A sprightly and dynamic artiste from India currently based in Dallas, Texas, she balanced her career as a corporate lawyer along with pursuing the art form with rigor. She believes her training across both professions has contributed to her being a thoughtful, articulate, and innovative artist, who is committed to pushing the boundaries of Indian classical dance to cater to wider audiences. Deepta's recent choreographic works draw on her experiences as an immigrant artist with strong roots, endeavoring to make Indian art forms globally accessible and relevant.
Her practice of the art and performances are marked with passion, hard work and commitment to understand and perform the art in depth. With excellent command over rhythm, she is known for her energetic and neat technique and subtle expressive and emotive capabilities. These qualities have taken her to coveted stages in India and the US.

Katie Burks is an American dancer, choreographer, theatrical creator, and educator who has been privileged to perform, teach, and present choreographic and performance work across the USA and internationally. A proud native of Dallas, Texas, Katie is a graduate of Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Dance from Point Park University, from where she graduated cum laude, and a Master of Fine Arts in Choreography with distinction from Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance. In 2022, Katie founded and became Executive Director of Artists Sans Frontières, a nonprofit that brings the performing arts to areas impacted by war, violence, natural disaster, and economic disparity. Since its formation, ASF has delivered performing arts outreach, entertainment, and enrichment to over 1,500 families and children. Learn more about Katie by visiting www.katieburks.com or on Instagram @katiebburks. Learn more about ASF by visiting www.asf-ngo.org or via Instagram @asf_ngo.

Elliott Trahan is from Lafayette, Louisiana. They graduated from the University of Arizona with a BFA in Dance in 2019. Trahan has performed at national and international dance festivals, including the Kiel International Festival for Dance in Germany and the Bolzano Dansa International Dance Festival in Italy. Elliott is currently a company member of Bruce Wood Dance, and has performed works by Bryan Arias, Joy Bollinger, and Omar Román de Jesús, among others. During their time with Bruce Wood Dance, they choreographed two works as part of the company’s WoodShop program.

Mya Evans is an artist from the DFW area, she began her dance journey in church at the age of three and has been cultivating her artistic experience ever since. she has trained in various styles like African, Hip hop, Modern, Jazz, Ballet and many more styles with an afro influence. Mya is a recent graduate from Texas Women's University with her B.A. in Dance. This past spring Mya's work, "Black Is Love: An Excerpt", was shown in The DanceMakers Concert. This fall Ms. Evans taught at the Bailando International Dance Festival expanding her teaching experience. Ms. Evans also teaches 6th grade dance at GWC STEM Learning Center and manages the school dance company, GWC Constellations setting choreographic works like "Coming Back For You" and "Lord Don't Forsake Me At Christmas" as seen at Dallas Black's Dance Africa, NorthPark, & Galleria. Mya Evans plans to continue to work towards dancing, producing, choreographing, and learning about dance all over the world.

Gabriel Scampini is a Venezuelan artist who now resides in Dallas, TX. His artistic journey began at the age of 11 when he started learning Salsa and Afro-Cuban rhythms as a dancer. Later, he pursued Sociology at Universidad Central de Venezuela in Caracas, where he discovered his passion for theatre. He worked with various companies as an actor in productions such as Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds (Ventura Producciones), and Pechos de Nina (Teatro Nueva Era).
Gabriel expanded his knowledge in dance, exploring genres like Jazz Funk, Hip Hop, AfroBeats, and disciplines such as Anthropological and Ritual Theatre. He has performed and competed with groups like The Neighborhood and Meraki.
Currently, Gabriel hosts dance classes and directs LUMINAL: A Movement Laboratory. Most recently he was part of the cast for First, M.I., Last (by Rai Barnard) and works as a production coordinator with Teatro Dallas. His diverse background and passion for the arts make him a multi-faceted artist.

A dance artist, performer, choreographer, and tinker. Néstor invests in projects that are daring within the spectrum of wittiness and intellect for their physicality and virtuosity. He began his career in 2009 at Texas Woman's University. Since then, opportunities have come along to work and collaborate with a variety of dance artists such as Jordan Fuchs, Sarah Gamblin, Jose Zamora, Whitney Boomer, Mellisa Watts, Lily Sloan, Christie Bondade, Shelly C. Padilla, Erika Record, Jessica Hale, Amy Davis, and Amy Morrow. He was also in the reconstruction of "Love Redefined" by Bill T. Jones under the direction of Leah Cox, performed at ADF 2013. In 2015, he joined the well known Dallas based company Bruce Wood Dance. He was submerged with the artistry of the late Bruce Wood's repertoire and various guest artists of national and international value such as Omar Román de Jesús, Bryan Arias, Andy Noble, Katarzyna Skarpetowska, Yin Yue, Kimi Nikaidoh, Albert Drake, and Joy Bollinger.

Meet the Facilitators

(Stage Manager/Production Manager) Broadway: The Last Ship.
Off-Broadway: Elvis People.
Nat't Tour: Hamilton, Wicked.
Regional: Million Dollar Quartet; Mamma Mia! (Casa Manana) Giant, Fly,The Wiz, Public Works Dallas (Dallas Theater Center) Tonight At 8:30, Light Up the Sky, Hedda Gabler (Williamstown); Evita, Dreamgirls, Peter Pan, Hello, Dolly!, The Producers, West Side Story (North Carolina Theatre).
Eric is a graduate of UNC-Greensboro, and currently teaches technical theatre at Fort Worth Country Day in Fort Worth.

Kelsey Oliver, an Austin native, is a freelance choreographer, performer, and artist routinely in scrappy, maximalist, humor-struck collaborations. Trained as a dancer, KO has spent recent years dabbling in costume design and curation, styling for Performa/Dance, UT’s Fall For Dance, Frank Wo/Men Collective, Erica Saucedo, Heloise Gold, The Reverie, and many solo & duet works. She likes durational stuff, absurdist stuff, devised stuff, funny stuff, and stuff that gets soakingly athletic. She also loves her queer family with 5 fur floof children.
Kelsey-Oliver.com | @kelsey___oliver

Neil Foote, a member of the National Association of Black Journalists Hall of Fame and the C.E. Shuford Hall of Honor at the Mayborn School of Journalism, is an entrepreneur, educator, storyteller, and strategist. He is CEO of Foote Communications LLC, a public-relations, content management and multicultural marketing firm. He also is Executive Director of Frisco Marketing Strategy for the University of North Texas. He has more than 40 years of experience working in various forms of media as a journalist (Miami Herald, Washington Post), sales manager and Internet strategist (Dallas Morning News/Belo Corp.), and public relations professional (Tom Joyner/Reach Media). Foote has worked with a wide range of clients from the business world, entertainment, and nonprofits, including Ascendant Group Branding, LiquidSoul Media, Denny’s, Dale Carnegie Training, Change.org, Tom Joyner and Communities Foundation of Texas.

Caroline Hodge (Lighting Design, she/her) is a Dallas based programmer and designer who is delighted to be returning for her second year as part of the SEEDS project. Favorite credits include Every Brilliant Thing with Dallas Theater Center, The Perspectives Project with Pegasus Contemporary Ballet, Mini Movement Fest and Seeds with Agora Artists, and Young Frankenstein with Circle Theatre (as an Associate Designer). Caroline would like to thank her family and her colleagues for their support. See more of her work at CEHodgeLighting.com.

This program is supported by

about Seeds

Seeds is a comprehensive project providing emerging and seasoned dancemakers with tools, means and support to create, develop and premiere a new, finished work. This is a twelve-week crash course in self producing a choreographic work ready for future festival & venue showings. Seeds encompasses a subsidized rehearsal space, career development consultations, professional mentorship and numerous connections within the dance community, culminating in a two-evening fully produced performance at Arts Mission Oak Cliff (AMOC) in Oak Cliff, Dallas.

The project is free of charge--no application fees, no production fees, and no rental costs will be charged to the applicant/choreographer. The total value of the program is estimated to be at least $3,000/choreographer. Agora Artists also provides a modest budget to remunerate choreographers, dancers and cover production expenses such as costumes, props and travel reimbursements.

The Seeds project encompasses 5 main elements:

Space Grant

Each choreographer receives up to 20 hours of subsidized rehearsal space, administered through Agora Artists’ partnership with the Arts Mission Oak Cliff. Choreographers will be charged $5/hour for space, one-third of AMOC’s rental rate and a significantly lower rate than many area dance studios.
Professional Development & Mentorship

Participants receive advice from working professionals at each workshop and receive hands-on feedback on staging and directing, writing, costumes, lighting, organization, scheduling and finance. Once the rehearsal process starts, participants meet every other Sunday to brainstorm with peers and to share feedback on their works in-progress. Dancers are also invited to brainstorming sessions, enriching the conversation with multiple points of view.
Production Budget

Each choreographer is allotted a modest budget to be used for personal remuneration, pay dancers/performers, purchase costumes, materials, props etc. Each choreographer will receive a project budget of $1,000 to subsidize their total budget. Detailed budgets will be discussed with the participants in the first workshop.
Performance

Seeds culminates in a fully produced two-night performance in the Sanctuary at Arts Mission Oak Cliff complete with full dress rehearsal and tech.
Network Building

The choreographers selected for Seeds are brought into the program as a group and are expected to support each other along this choreographic journey. They meet every other Sunday for workshops, check-ins, and feedback sessions. Additionally, Agora Artists invites local arts leaders to the concert in hopes choreographers may build relationships with local presenters and arts leaders for future professional opportunities.